Banana trees, adorned with vibrant colors and auspicious symbols, stand as sentinels at the entrance of Hindu weddings. They are not mere decorations but carry profound symbolic significance, representing an evergreen and prosperous marriage, blessed with fertility and abundance. The banana tree, with its robust trunk and lush foliage, symbolizes strength and longevity, mirroring the enduring bond of the newlywed couple.
My wife’s sister is getting married in August (hmmm, this reminds me – I need to apply for leave from work).
So, the vicious cycle of doing the necessary preparation for the wedding has commenced, and due to the close relationship, we somehow got involved too. But that is because we already ran through our wedding preparation last time and my sister-in-law is in dire need of “experts” for advice. She roped us in.
However, since we are not running the show (her elder sister seems to be taking a big cake here and seems to be dictating most of the arrangements), we could not sit in as the “project managers” for this event. So, despite our advice to her to start things early, the only thing that has been “confirmed” at this moment is the wedding date (the wedding venue is still up in the air).
We were supposed to be going shopping for the wedding saree and other clothes somewhere in May but nothing has been done. After thinking about it, my wife and I decided to do our shopping. That way, we will not be stuck with the “shopping for wedding clothes” group which is expected to be joining the bride in her shopping spree. For those who have joined a similar “committee” for a shopping spree, a lot of time will be wasted arguing about the color and type of material alone, and that too is for one saree. We do not want to go through that hassle.
Considering what we did for our wedding a couple of years ago, my wife was saying that it is a good thing that we decided to DIY our wedding preparations. It is easier for everyone. There were fewer people to satisfy (aunties in particular), easier to make decisions (just me and my wife have the final say) and most importantly, we were able to keep the cost down (no one influencing us to buy expensive items).
We did a lot of things ourselves – the only “external” help we got was from my mom who helped to arrange for the temple booking and priest and my dad and my uncle who took care of the catering & tables & tents. The rest – from getting the invitation cards, delivering them (my car had a marathon run then), shopping for clothes, furniture for the room, photography, bridal services, jewelry, dinner hall arrangement, etc was done by me and my wife. And we managed to save a lot of money (especially on the jewelry) in the process.
So, for my sister-in-law’s wedding preparation – we are well equipped to give her some advice but because there is an unofficial committee formed in the background to handle the preparations, I foresee that this wedding preparation is going to be a long task ahead. As I said, another 2 months to go and so far, only the dates have been confirmed. It will be tiring, I’m sure.
To be continued…
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congrats man. my younger brother is getting married in December. but since we are from the groom side, there’s pretty much nothing for us to do then… to show up!! hehehe 🙂 nevertheless, it is kind of nervous moment for the family. there’s no head and tail for the event. god knows how we will be able to pull it through… 😀
Nilesh, agree that there is nothing much to do from the groom’s side but sending invitation will be big task especially when relatives are spread all over the place and get upset when receive the card through Poslaju..hahah